the night has gone.

and i´m walking home. (bombay bicycle club - "what if")

 "what if" is on this album
"i had the blues but i shook them loose"

before i´m heading down to the apollo, here´s one more post full of videos and music that i´ve been enjoying lately. 

let´s start with dry the river simply in preparation for tonight´s show. here´s a little acoustic version of "history book" that they played for the gospel oak session. the song is great, no doubt about that, although i gotta admit i might be losing a little interest in it because there are already tons of different versions of that song on youtube. it´s time that they release an album, so they can play a different song for those kind of sessions from time to time.

moving right along to wild beasts. i´m already more than excited to see them again after haldern and their latest record "smother" has been on repeat for a few months now. my favourite is definitely "reach a bit further" which is going to be their next single. but hayden and tom did a great acoustic version of "the devil´s crayon" (from the album "limbo, panto") for the black cab sessions. obviously this session was not shot recently (which is more than obvious when you take a look at hayden) but thank god that their voices don´t change.

up next is agnes obel with "riverside". i honestly regret it so bad that i missed her performance at the haldern pop festival because her album "philharmonics" is amazing. it´s basically just her and her piano. that´s it. and that´s exactly what makes this album so great. no special effects or anything, just her voice and the amazing piano sounds. but thankfully she´s coming to manchester in november, so that´ll hopefully make up for missing her in haldern. by the way, this video is pretty awesome as well.

here are young the giant with an acoustic version of "apartment" which was recorded for the open sessions. and yes, a friend recommended those guys to me. i´m honestly not so keen on their studio versions but they did more songs for the open sessions, so i guess it´s not that bad. the music in the studio versions kinda drowns out the lead vocals. i prefer the acoustic stuff much more. 

now we´ve got the miserable rich with "anything´s possible". i´m gonna try to see these guys here in manchester in november, so make sure you´ll catch them somewhere in the uk or germany (as those are the only countries they´re touring in soon) as well. i like them on record, so hopefully they´ll be just as good live.

"he doesn´t know why" by fleet foxes is another song that i´d highly recommend. well, their albums in general actually. i absolutely love them and they were definitely one of my highlights at the haldern festival. they were actually the first band i discovered in manchester two years ago. their self-titled album was playing in a store here and i just had to ask who they were. of course i bought the album and was totally impressed. one of the few bands that i actually discovered by spending countless hours in record shops. 

another haldern act - james blake with "limit to your love". i guess his music takes some getting used to but i certainly don´t regret giving him a chance. i´m not quite sure if it was intentional that the sound was so full of bass when he played the main stage in haldern, but his music is great nevertheless and his voice is perfect for this kind of music.

second to last, here we have pete & the pirates with "she doesn´t belong to me". don´t ask me why but they sound so absolutely british that it makes me cringe sometimes - but i mean that in the best way possible. their tunes have this indie flair that lots of other artists (who think their music fits in the indie category) don´t have.

and finally, my absolute favourite this week: jp cooper. his tunes are amazing! goose bumps every single time, even if i´m listening to the same song for the 20th time in a row. doesn´t matter. his music is pure brilliancy. but please, see or better hear yourself.  here´s a live version of "oh brother".

alright, that´s it for today. i´m off to the apollo to see bombay bicycle club supported by dry the river and dog is dead tonight. review´s coming next week. see ya soon.